Wolfgang Grupp: The 10 most striking sayings of the entrepreneur

Created: 11/28/2022, 4:05 p.m

By: Sina Alonso Garcia

Trigema boss Wolfgang Grupp is considered an entrepreneur who doesn't mince his words.

He sometimes offends with his provocative statements - which doesn't bother the Burladinger in the slightest.

BW24 has collected the 10 most striking sayings of the company mogul.

Burladingen - The Swabian entrepreneur Wolfgang Grupp represents the local medium-sized business sector like no other and even at the age of 80 he is not yet thinking about retiring.

In talk shows, newspaper interviews and podcasts, the company patriarch answers questions and gives insights into his everyday life.

During the more than 50 years in which he successfully built up the textile manufacturer Trigema, Grupp has repeatedly positioned itself clearly on economic issues - and developed a reputation as an old-school entrepreneur who values ​​traditional values.

He always represents his opinion transparently - which does not go down well with everyone, but at the same time gives him respect.

Sometimes, however, the statements are so strange that they fly in his face afterwards.

has collected the most striking sayings of the entrepreneur.

1. "We don't throw away a piece of bread because it's tough."

Although Grupp is estimated to have a considerable fortune, the model entrepreneur speaks openly about money.

"I have everything I need in the best possible quality," he told

.

"It's the same in my house.

For me, the following applies: once correctly - and not just half and constantly having to improve it.” But he rejects senseless luxury.

"I'm also Swabian by nature." As befits a Swabian, the entrepreneur is modest and frugal: "We don't throw away a piece of bread because it's hard."

2. "A Wolfgang Grupp pays everything in cash."

Wolfgang Grupp doesn't think much of stocks or savings accounts.

He has his money managed by two bank friends who are friends.

He also almost never uses his credit card: "Wolfgang Grupp pays everything in cash." This means he doesn't have to check as much afterwards, he says.

3. "People with big problems are failures."

In times of crisis, Wolfgang Grupp does not trust politics.

Instead, he sees himself in the role of doer.

For him, problems are there to be solved, as he emphasizes in an interview with

: "Anyone who has a big problem is a failure for me.

Because every problem was once small and if you had solved it when it was small, you would not have a big one.”

4. "No matter how old I am, my wife should always be in her early 20s."

While Wolfgang Grupp likes to show himself as a doer in his professional life, he doesn't lose sight of his private life either.

He has been happily married to his wife Elisabeth for 34 years.

What sets the groups apart from many other couples: their age difference is comparatively large.

When they met while hunting grouse in 1986, he was 43 and she was only 19.

Nevertheless, the Trigema boss did not shy away from wooing the young baroness - he will certainly not regret his decision to contact her back then by letter.

After they got together, everything happened very quickly: Grupp proposed marriage while driving, the wedding (1988), the daughter Bonita (*1989), the son Wolfgang (*1991).

In the show

(ZDF, April 20, 2017) Grupp and his wife look back on getting to know each other.

"No matter how old I am, my wife should always be in her early 20s," says the businessman confidently into the camera.

"I knew when I was looking for a woman: She had to come to Burladingen.

And when she has already experienced everything, it becomes more and more difficult.

So I have to have her open to experiencing something new.

It's always easy when she's young and can still grow into life." While the statement caused irritation in the group, Elisabeth Grupp took it calmly: "You can leave it as it is, because of course I had the flexibility that my husband didn't have.

My husband owned the company, he had responsibilities.

And I was just able to change my place of residence.”

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5. "To me, Twitter is just stupid, and the people who use it are jerks."

Grupp's statement that Twitter was "simply stupid" for him dates back more than ten years and has since been toned down by Grupp (

, 2010).

In the meantime, however, the company patriarch has not made friends with social media.

He still seems to be partially suspicious of the digital world.

Completely atypical for a managing director, Grupp doesn't have a computer and prints out all his e-mails.

"I don't need anything like that," he told

.

Instead, there is only an intercom, a landline and a mobile phone on his desk.

6. "The world has gotten a little crazier and all this shit is from America."

In addition to the Internet, Grupp also considers the work ethic of start-ups to be questionable.

If things are going well, people would cash in, if things were going badly, they would quit, he said in a podcast for

.

You need responsible start-ups.

He obviously doesn't think much of cheap products or quick money: "The world has gotten a little crazier and all that shit comes from America."

7. "Anyone who graduates from high school no longer goes to a sewing machine."

Grupp considers the fact that many young people in Germany are currently taking their Abitur and studying to be a problem.

"We need skilled workers who are intelligent and have manual skills, and not so many students who mess everything up," he complains in a video interview on the occasion of the 1250th anniversary of the city of Burladingen.

In his hometown there are "many great companies and workshops" where you can still get a solid education.

Trigema needs "good, skilled workers who can also do something technically," he said in an interview with BW24.

When a seamstress told him that one of her daughters was doing her Abitur, Grupp was disappointed.

"Anyone who graduates from high school no longer goes to a sewing machine," he regretted.

8. "When I talk to a student, I often ask myself: What did he actually say?"

Grupp is certain: there are too many academics on the job market and not enough practical people.

Although he admits that he himself studied.

"But once it was clear that I was going to lead the company, I realized that I had to make simple decisions," Grupp told

.

“And I learned this in elementary school.

When I talk to a student, I often ask myself: what did he actually say?”

9. "I'd rather have a company without a PhD than a PhD without a company."

When he took over Trigema from his grandfather and his brother in 1969 at the age of 27, Grupp was in the process of writing a doctoral thesis in Cologne.

"The employees whispered that he should do something and not just do high life in Cologne," Grupp told the

.

"The company had ten million bank debts." The young entrepreneur knew he had to make a decision.

"Then I gave up on my doctoral thesis and said to my professor: I'd rather have a company without a doctoral thesis than a doctor without a company." Back in Burladingen, Grupp led the company out of the crisis and freed it from debt.

10. "I have values ​​that many people miss."

Even if he causes irritation with some statements, Grupp is valued by many people for his honesty and directness.

In any case, you can't blame him for pretending to be something he's not.

Clear edge, authenticity, direct announcements without beating around the bush, sometimes leaning a little far out of the window - Grupp is just Grupp.

As he explains in an interview with

, he stands by what he says - even if it is not approved by everyone.

"I represent values ​​that many people miss," he is certain.